Webber aims for Red Bull’s third pole-to-win in Monaco

2012 Monaco GP pre-race analysis

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Red Bull are on pole position for the third year in a row at Monaco.

But unusually it’s Mark Webber who lines up at the sharp end rather than Sebastian Vettel, who’s taken the lion’s share of the team’s pole positions.

Webber is aiming to repeat his 2010 pole-to-win feat and give Red Bull their third consecutive victory in the principality.

The start

The first moments of the race are even more crucial in Monaco because of the difficulty of overtaking here. Going on past form, we could be in for an exciting start.

Webber hasn’t got a record of particularly good starts this year. In the first five races he’s lost a total of seven places on lap one.

The problem for those lining up behind him is they won’t have much chance to capitalise on it. The narrow, curved run to the first corner is just 300m long and Webber’s car will be positioned on the inside.

The driver who starts second usually has worry more about keeping his position than gaining one. Only once the the last four starts has the driver who started third failed to take second. That was slow-starting Webber, last year.

Lewis Hamilton may be only third on the grid but he has a decent chance of getting in the mix with Webber and Rosberg at the start.

Strategy

Strategy at Monaco has always been making as few pit stops as possible, limiting your vulnerability to being jumped from behind.

This was the policy Vettel pursued last year, pitting for softs on lap 16 and attempting to run until the end.

It left him with a lot of defending to do and whether he might have kept Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button behind in the final laps without the red flag – and the opportunity to change tyres – is one of the great ‘what ifs’ of last year.

Strategy therefore becomes a questions of who will dare to pit first for soft tyres – and whether they will try to make them last until the end. This will partly come down to who can find clean air to drop back into at their first pit stop.

Lotus had especially good performance on the soft tyre but couldn’t find the same kind of performance on the super-soft. This might embolden them to take on a longer stint on the softs than their rivals.

As well as being on pole, Red Bull also have the best-placed car which has the choice of tyre to start on. Vettel, who starts ninth, said: “We could be on a different strategy tomorrow as we’re able to start the race on hard tyres, slightly different to the cars ahead, so we’ll see how the first stint goes and go from there.”

As ever, the narrow confines of Monaco increases the chance of a safety car deployment, which would make life very difficult for the strategists.

Qualifying times in full

DriverCarQ1

Q2 (vs Q1)

Q3 (vs Q2)
1Mark WebberRed Bull1’16.0131’15.035 (-0.978)1’14.381 (-0.654)
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’15.9001’15.022 (-0.878)1’14.448 (-0.574)
3Lewis HamiltonMcLaren1’16.0631’15.166 (-0.897)1’14.583 (-0.583)
4Romain GrosjeanLotus1’15.7181’15.219 (-0.499)1’14.639 (-0.580)
5Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’16.1531’15.128 (-1.025)1’14.948 (-0.180)
6Michael SchumacherMercedes1’15.8731’15.062 (-0.811)1’14.301 (-0.761)
7Felipe MassaFerrari1’15.9831’14.911 (-1.072)1’15.049 (+0.138)
8Kimi RaikkonenLotus1’15.8891’15.322 (-0.567)1’15.199 (-0.123)
9Sebastian VettelRed Bull1’15.7571’15.234 (-0.523)
10Nico HulkenbergForce India1’15.4181’15.421 (+0.003)
11Kamui KobayashiSauber1’15.6481’15.508 (-0.140)
12Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’16.3991’15.536 (-0.863)
13Bruno SennaWilliams1’15.9231’15.709 (-0.214)
14Paul di RestaForce India1’16.0621’15.718 (-0.344)
15Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso1’16.3601’15.878 (-0.482)
16Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso1’16.4911’16.885 (+0.394)
17Heikki KovalainenCaterham1’16.538
18Vitaly PetrovCaterham1’17.404
19Pastor MaldonadoWilliams1’16.0171’15.026 (-0.991)1’15.245 (+0.219)
20Timo GlockMarussia1’17.947
21Pedro de la RosaHRT1’18.096
22Charles PicMarussia1’18.476
23Narain KarthikeyanHRT1’19.310
24Sergio PerezSauber

Felipe Massa made it into Q3 for the first time this year and reckoned he could have beaten his team mate: “I could definitely have done even better than this seventh place: fifth was within my reach, given what we saw in Q1 and Q2.

“Unfortunately, in Q3 I did not manage to get a perfectly clean lap because of traffic, but that’s an easy thing to find here.”

Sector times

DriverSector 1Sector 2Sector 3
Mark Webber19.484 (11)34.685 (2)20.185 (1)
Nico Rosberg19.228 (2)34.770 (3)20.355 (2)
Lewis Hamilton19.291 (3)34.811 (4)20.398 (4)
Romain Grosjean19.136 (1)35.037 (10)20.389 (3)
Fernando Alonso19.319 (5)34.993 (8)20.539 (7)
Michael Schumacher19.295 (4)34.584 (1)20.422 (5)
Felipe Massa19.366 (6)34.891 (6)20.470 (6)
Kimi Raikkonen19.399 (8)34.988 (7)20.590 (9)
Sebastian Vettel19.436 (9)35.020 (9)20.696 (10)
Nico Hulkenberg19.526 (12)35.109 (12)20.717 (12)
Kamui Kobayashi19.668 (16)35.103 (11)20.714 (11)
Jenson Button19.379 (7)35.359 (14)20.739 (14)
Bruno Senna19.474 (10)35.438 (15)20.781 (16)
Paul di Resta19.664 (15)35.283 (13)20.771 (15)
Daniel Ricciardo19.613 (14)35.474 (16)20.737 (13)
Jean-Eric Vergne19.678 (17)35.609 (18)21.016 (17)
Heikki Kovalainen19.803 (18)35.545 (17)21.031 (18)
Vitaly Petrov20.033 (20)35.883 (20)21.294 (19)
Pastor Maldonado19.537 (13)34.888 (5)20.575 (8)
Timo Glock20.293 (22)36.217 (21)21.304 (20)
Pedro de la Rosa20.384 (23)36.229 (22)21.483 (21)
Charles Pic20.207 (21)36.509 (23)21.559 (22)
Narain Karthikeyan20.559 (24)36.570 (24)21.740 (23)
Sergio Perez19.987 (19)35.862 (19)32.524 (24)

The lap which ultimately put Webber on pole did not get off to a promising start – he was only 11th-quickest in the first sector.

Romain Grosjean believed his slow middle sector cost him a chance of pole position: “I did a very good lap in the first part of Q3 but then I couldn’t improve on my second set of tyres.

“This was a shame because our strategy was perfect for the last part of qualifying. The traffic wasn’t too bad but I missed out in sector two. I think pole position was within reach.”

Speed trap

PosDriverCarSpeed (kph/mph)Gap
1Nico HulkenbergForce India282.5 (175.5)
2Jenson ButtonMcLaren282.2 (175.4)-0.3
3Nico RosbergMercedes281.6 (175.0)-0.9
4Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso281.6 (175.0)-0.9
5Sebastian VettelRed Bull281.2 (174.7)-1.3
6Heikki KovalainenCaterham281.1 (174.7)-1.4
7Mark WebberRed Bull281.0 (174.6)-1.5
8Michael SchumacherMercedes280.5 (174.3)-2.0
9Pastor MaldonadoWilliams280.4 (174.2)-2.1
10Lewis HamiltonMcLaren280.3 (174.2)-2.2
11Paul di RestaForce India279.8 (173.9)-2.7
12Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso279.6 (173.7)-2.9
13Felipe MassaFerrari279.5 (173.7)-3.0
14Bruno SennaWilliams279.3 (173.5)-3.2
15Vitaly PetrovCaterham279.0 (173.4)-3.5
16Fernando AlonsoFerrari278.9 (173.3)-3.6
17Narain KarthikeyanHRT278.5 (173.1)-4.0
18Romain GrosjeanLotus278.4 (173.0)-4.1
19Pedro de la RosaHRT278.2 (172.9)-4.3
20Kimi RaikkonenLotus278.2 (172.9)-4.3
21Timo GlockMarussia277.4 (172.4)-5.1
22Charles PicMarussia276.9 (172.1)-5.6
23Kamui KobayashiSauber276.6 (171.9)-5.9
24Sergio PerezSauber276.4 (171.7)-6.1

Your view on the Monaco Grand Prix

Mark Webber take his second victory in the Monaco Grand Prix? How will Michael Schumacher fare after being relegated from first to sixth on the grid?

And what progress will Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez make from 19th and 24th? Have your say in the comments.

2012 Monaco Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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44 comments on “Webber aims for Red Bull’s third pole-to-win in Monaco”

  1. Interesting to see that only Ferrari didn’t manage to improve on Q3 that much as the others teams did.

  2. Imagine Massa would have gotten a similar lap to Q2 together in Q3…

  3. I hope Nico doesn’t drive like he did in Bahrain. Otherwise, there could be some unfortunate retirements.

  4. Looks like Perez may get a slight reprieve, Maldonado appears to be taking a gearbox penalty and therefore will go all the way back. A cynic would suggest this is a tactical decision as they have an upgraded box available, but Williams are saying the old one is destroyed.

  5. Webber just might do it if he breaks the trend and gets a really good start!

    1. Thanksfully, even if he gets a slow-ish start, he might just hang on the lead into first corner!

  6. Considering how unpredictable these last couple of races have been, and the usual potential lottery at Monaco, everyone has a chance… I’m not saying much but how can you really make a prediction with such a tight field?

    Hope Mark wins it, though. It’d be brilliant for him, plus we’d get the 6th different winner in as many races :).

  7. Going on the first five races, and six qualifying sessions, what’s happening between Lewis and Jenson seems to be what most people predicted before the 2010 season got underway. They were actually closely matched in their first two seasons and seemed to learn a lot from eachother. I think any Lewis Hamilton fan would be willing to admit, his performances in those seasons were below what we had come to expect from him after his staggering first two seasons, and a hard to judge third. Most people expected Lewis’ speed in qualifying would demolish Jenson’s, but it was more even than people anticipated.
    By this point in 2010 (six qualifying sessions in) the qualifying battle stood like this:
    Lewis 3 – 3 Jenson. Lewis out-qualified Jenson in Bahrain, Spain and Monaco, Jenson was ahead in Australia, Malaysia and China.
    The race battle was also fairly evenly matched after six events:
    Lewis 4 – 2 Jenson. But those two races JB finished ahead were two race wins, and Lewis had none. Something that virtually no-one could see coming.
    2011 is famous for being Lewis’ worst season in F1, yet he still only finished 43 points (a 1st and 2nd) behind his teammate, who was supposedly having the best season of his career. 2011 actually highlighted how talented Lewis is, because he didn’t finish behind due to a lack of being competitive, he was often in good positions, but constant lapses of judgement (usually involving Felipe Massa) cost him dear in the championship. Had he not made those errors, there is no doubt he would have finished ahead in the standings for the second season in a row.
    His qualifying form was much improved from the year before as well, with the battle standing like this, six quali sessions in to the season:
    Lewis 4 – 2 Jenson. Lewis out-qualified him in Australia, Malaysia, Turkey and Spain. Jenson got ahead in China and Monaco. It wasn’t just the he was ahead more often than 2010, but he was usually sat on the front row alongside the champion of that year, Sebastian Vettel.
    The race form was also in Lewis’ favour by this point, as it was at Monaco where his season de-railed after a frustrating drive to sixth on the streets, due to a mistake by him and his team in qualifying.
    Lewis 4 – 2 Jenson. Lewis picked up one win in the opening six races, and came close to picking up a second one in Spain, but for a brilliant bit of defending from Mr. Vettel.
    2012 is much easier to read, as even without a race win (which his teammate has), it’s definitely Lewis carrying the confidence and momentum.
    The qualifying battle between them this year, is extremely daunting for Jenson Button and much like what was anticipated when they first became teammates.
    Lewis 6 – 0 Jenson
    Discounting penalties, Lewis has qualified ahead at every race so far (all but once on the front row), with his teammate twice dropping out in Q2.
    The races form also shows more in Lewis’ favour:
    Lewis 4 – 2 Jenson. Jenson has once again managed to bag a win before his teammate, but he also hasn’t scored at two races, with Lewis picking points up at every single event, Jenson needs to get a move on.
    If you look further than just the result at the races, the balance falls even further towards Lewis.
    Australia – Jenson was sublime, and hit an unexpecting Hamilton where it hurt. Lewis seemed desperate to start the season on the ultimate high, and with his stunning Melbourne pole, many were convinced he would. His teammate had an air of confidence on the grid that Lewis just didn’t seem to have. Jenson stormed past off the line and drove out of Lewis’ reach and speed to claim the first win of the season.
    Malaysia – Another pole for Lewis and in the soaking conditions he was clearly pulling away from his teammate, but two bodged pit stops saw him drop behind Jenson on track. He then in an effort to get a gap on Lewis, tried to make a move on the HRT as fast as possible, which resulted in a broken wing, a slow pitstop and dropping out of the points. Lewis was only third after his pitting, but the Mclaren’s struggle to heat the tyres on a damp track meant he stayed there.
    China – A gearbox penalty meant Lewis started behind Jenson and the agressive 3-stop strategy meant they were both having to clear traffic through most of the race. They did both get clear air during the middle of the race and were fairly evenly matched, with Lewis closing by just a tenth or two. In summary, had Lewis started where he qualified (2nd place), the similar pace between them meant Lewis would have finished ahead again, barring any potential incident between him and Rosberg, or Schumacher behind.
    Bahrain – A disastorous race for Mclaren, with them being completely off the pace in the race. Once again Lewis recieved to bodged pit stops and dropped behind Jenson, who was generally quite a bit slower through the race, struggling to get on top of the difficult balance in the car. He eventually retired afte damage from Nico Rosberg’s shattered exhaust. Lewis recovered well to 8th.
    Spain – Lewis produced one of his best ever pole laps, but was stripped of it and thrown to the back of the grid after a fuel infringement (yet another team mistake). He started dead last, with his teammate starting 10th, but he produced a brilliant drive to 8th in a manner not usually seen from him. He did a Jenson. While everyone else was three stopping, he just did two, resulting in a 31 lap stint on a set of hards. Something everyone (Pirelli included) thought impossible. There was also some stellar overtaking (paticularly on the two Torro Rosso’s) and due to Jenson once again unable to find a desirable balance in his car, Lewis managed to finish ahead.
    I think this season (so far) is a return to the Lewis of 2007 & 2008. He’s confident, consistently fast and just enjoying driving no matter what the results. Obviously if Mclaren keep repeating their mistakes from the first few races, some frustration is bound to creep in, but I really can’t see Jenson finishing ahead of this Lewis Hamilton. I can see Lewis becoming World Champion though, I really can.

    1. Oops, that was meant to be Lewis 3 – 2 Jenson for the 2012 race battle. Although it is fairly safe to assume Lewis will finish ahead, with Jenson starting 12th. But you never know what Mclaren has up their sleeves to loose yet more points.

    2. And that, my friend, is the longest post I’ve ever seen in F1Fanatic.

      Congratulations, @goodyear92!

      1. @fer-no65, @goodyear92, I’ve tried to compose a suitable response below, but I see I’ve fallen a few paragraphs short ;-)

      2. Yeah, I may have got a bit carried away…

    3. @goodyear92,

      I think any Lewis Hamilton fan would be willing to admit, his performances in those seasons were below what we had come to expect from him

      Actually, I think 2010 was a very strong year for Hamilton; in terms of pace, because Hamilton was either matching or beating Jenson on and qualifying and race pace, but also in terms of results. The only thing I see him do wrong was to have a peek up someone’s inside on the first lap: in Valencia he touched with Vettel and got away with minor front wing damage; in Silverstone it looked as if his front wing cut Vettel’s right rear, leaving Sebastian with a puncture; and of course in Monza he tapped Massa’s rear wheel with his front, breaking his suspension on a day I feel he could have challenged for the win. That, and the subsequent collision with Webber in the following race in Singapore led many people to say that it was Hamilton’s inconsistency that cost him the title, but I do not agree with that. In fact I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t tried to overtake Webber where he did, and the resulting racing incident was unfortunately costly.

      I have to say, I am rather surprised at Button’s current slump. Of course, he has always been sensitive to tyre temperature issues, but on the back of last year’s successful campaign he seemed almost invincible: fast in qualifying, very fast in the race with good race craft and bulletproof consistency. We have seen that Jenson in Australia and China but not in the other weekends this year.

      1. That’s what I mean though. He had those incidents, when he was driving in the same way as 2007 for example, a year in which he had virtually none. I still think he drove the best out of all the championship contenders that year. He was in the third fastest car, which was often more than a second off the ultimate pace, but he was still in contention in the last race of the season.
        I maybe being a bit harsh on my judgement of that season though, because in his first two years, he was in a car that was there or thereabouts. 2010’s car was quite a way off the pace, but because of mistakes from Red Bull he was able to capitalise. Maybe the mistakes were born from having to compensate for an inherant lack of pace.

    4. Its funny, despite Lewis Hamilton not leading the championship or taking any wins he really looks the strongest driver at this point. We all know its a matter of time until he starts clawing it back. Strangely enough Webber is starting to look like his main adversary here.

      1. First to say I hope I am wrong in this,but I still see Lewis and perhaps Mark to a slightly lesser degree not being able to make the most of their great natural racing speed and even at Monaco slipping back from their start positions. They both have great outright pace but have yet to prove they can manage any real winning race performance on the current tyres.

  8. I wonder whether ‘Plan A’ for the front runners is to try one stop, or two. I have the feeling degradation here is a little less than last year, although we haven’t seen that much in the way of long runs yet. In either case, I feel Webber has an excellent chance of winning if he gets to the first corner first, as the Red Bull has had pretty good race pace this year. If Rosberg leads, then I really don’t know. Last year in Monaco Mercedes struggled massively with rear tyre degradation, but this year seems to be better for them in that respect.

    I’m a little bit surprised Raikkonen keeps getting shown up by his team mate in qualifying, and at the same time surprised that Grosjean seems not quite ready to challenge for the win yet. However, he could do it here. A scenario that I do not hope to see but which is not inconceivable is for Webber to bog down at the start and box in Hamilton behind him, leaving Rosberg and Grosjean first and second after the first corner. Then, I think, Romain could have a good chance to win.

    Will Maldonado make any progress from the back? I think it’s certainly possibly. A friend said to me today:” Maldonado is the new Montoya”, which I found quite apt. If Pastor can keep his head cool enough to avoid hitting anyone, but hot enough to muscle his way past some people, we may see him approach the top ten.

    1. One stop according to Pirelli unless one of the top teams has so much pace they can make two stops work.

    2. scuderiaexxon
      27th May 2012, 11:14

      I’m a little bit surprised Raikkonen keeps getting shown up by his team mate in qualifying

      I don’t think that anybody cares about Raikkonen underperforminig during Qualifying especially when Kimi’s race results have been pretty good. (Besides, Grosjean has only out qualifyed Kimi four times out of six races and in China he started ahead of Raikkonen due to a five place grid penalty following a gearbox change.) Also Kimi has out raced Grosjean 4-1 with Kimi being on the poduim twice, verses Grosjean retire from two races. Trust me, Kimi is faster than Grosjean. :)

  9. I wonder whether ‘Plan A’ for the front runners is to try one stop, or two.

    That would have to be 2 stops as the super-softs used in quali are expected to get trashed rather quickly. I don’t see any of the front runners, carrying that set for more than 20 laps. Maybe even less than that.

    I don’t even see ‘Plan B’ for Vettel being a one-stop strategy. That would mean keeping the softs going for close to 50 laps and frankly, despite all the talk about slow-wear this year at Monaco, I just can’t see it happen. Plus, when that inevitable safety car comes in it’s all set to take a different turn.

    I’d rather expect some of the teams trying three-stops strategies tho’.

    1. @tony031r Pirelli say one, for the quicker cars maybe two, its on Autosport.

      1. That quote might as well translate into “two, maybe one, definitely not three”. But that might just be me.

        This year’s Pirellis are acting a bit too bipolar to bet on though so, who knows… :)

    2. If the field spread is as low as it has been at some races this year then the tactic of pitting early and hanging on may not be as advantageous as they’ll be pitting into traffic and may not get an effective undercut. No doubt a single stopper may still hold some advantage but it may have to be a more even split than Vettel ran in 2011. Chances of safety car are high at Monaco which will also help tyres travel a little further than under green flag conditions.

  10. @keithcollantine

    This is really for the facts/stats, so it’s bit premature, but is it still classed as pole position for Schumacher? The obvious difference to last weekend was that Hamilton was actually disqualified from the qualifying results, rather than being demoted on the grid for the race.

    I think the argument would be that it’s not pole position unless you start the race there.. but then did Schumacher have pole in France ’96?

    Bit of a complicated one!

    1. Don’t forget Monaco 2006 either

      1. Wasn’t he disqualified from the session then? Rather than getting a penalty as such?

    2. @cduk_mugello Monza 2005 is the best example. Kimi was fastest but he had to drop 10 places because he changed his engine during friday so Alonso got the pole position.

  11. Who set the time that starts tomorrows race from Pole Position? Answer: Webber.

    It really is that simple. If Webber was given a grid penalty for blocking or another reason his time would not deliver pole position, Rosbergs would, I really cannot understand any other logic. The person that sets pole is the person that starts there not matter how many people were quicker in qualifying.

    Well that is how I understand it.

    1. Yes, the technical requirement is that you have to “qualify” for your starting grid position, any of them, including P1, which is colloquially called “pole position” by long tradition. Successful “qualification” for a race start involves not only setting a certain lap time, but also following all the rules in setting that time. A penalty is awarded for infraction of the rules, so that whatever “time” you may have set, your penalty taken together with that time, “qualifies” you for a certain starting position. To be awarded a “pole,”, you have to satisfy all the regulations. It’s not just about time.

    2. Drop Valencia!
      27th May 2012, 5:10

      It’s even simpler, the guy that starts at the front on Sunday is pole, regardless of times, so if the top 22 guys don’t turn up on Sunday, NK will get his first Pole Position.

  12. Rosberg has had some electrifying starts in his time at Mercedes. He and Massa have a habit of shooting forward far quicker than others, though the latter seems to get caught out quite often being unable to find a way through the pack to make up positions, which also often leads to actually loosing positions sadly.

    I have a lot of confidence in Rosberg to take the lead, despite the stats and track conditions being against him. Maybe I wouldn’t be if it was not Webber in front of him, but the combination of who I consider to be one of the best starters and one of the worst adds up to make it a real possibility that Rosberg will take the lead.

    I, despite having money on Rosberg to win, would love to see Webber to win also. Webber is my favourite driver (and my title bet is with him) and I think it would do wonders for him if he was to take a win over Vettel on pure merit. It would not only boost his confidence but I think it would put a dink in Vettel’s too.

  13. Rosberg and Schumacher Do have different driving stilte/setup…

    1. yeah MSC has a blow up seat :)

  14. William Brierty
    26th May 2012, 22:59

    If you add up the best sector times you get a 1:13.905, still 4/10s of Vettel’s pole last year which just shows how much slower the cars are getting which really frustrates me, I want to see really fast lap times, not these “toned-down” ones.

    1. Jack Flash (Aust)
      27th May 2012, 1:29

      Are you serious? 4-tenths of a second slower over a 74 second lap around Monte Carlo or not, that still is an average of ~160 km/hr [100 mph] over the Principality street circuit. The commitment to the edges of the track, to the near jaws of the armco barrier, is ever the demand F1 racing at Monaco. If anything, with the much lower aero downforce (no EBD) of this year regs, less nailed rear ends, the fact that it is only ‘4-tenths’ less is astounding.

      Monaco 3.340 km circuit. Lap at 74 seconds = 162.5 km/hr

  15. Laps prediction for tyres is around 50 laps for soft and 35 for super soft. If you take out the laps done during quali, you just get the 78 laps of the race … Now I suspect they will try to make those tyres last as much as they can because you quite expect a safety car at Monaco and would help if it comes during your only pit.
    That would be interesting to see on which tyre they start from 10+ because the super softs don’t seem to make a huge improvement on the soft which are expected to last significantly longer, could help …

    For Maldonado and Perez, it’s just sad to see how they line up on the grid … As we all know the collision was Maldonado’s fault and apparently the crash of Perez during quali could be from a mechanical failure from their collision … So quite unfair at the end to see Maldonado in front of Perez on the grid (okay he has been penalised but less than Perez, maybe he is glad of his move because he is not the one suffering the most and he will do it again ?)

    I suspect them to overtake the 6 slower cars, plus the toro rosso’s, probably coming around a force india or the williams of Senna, but I don’t see them any further up at the end (count 3 retirements from the race and they finish around 12th place)

  16. I could have sworn Webber lost more positions than that on the starts, but I assume that doesn’t count the positions he then subsequently made back up before the end of the first lap.

  17. I was surprised by how poor the pace of the Lotus was in qualifying. They had minimal running in on the super soft so I presume their car just did not find as much benefit from them as other found. Their pace on the soft was much more impressive so we could see some of that in the race. The forecast is for dry weather so strategy should not be very hard to get right. You can see the forecast for yourself here. Safety car’s are always a possibility in Monaco so that might case a bit of a curve ball for some. Without rain, however, I suspect we may be in for a bit of a procedural race.

  18. What better place for Mark Webber to get his first win for 2012..? The confidence gained from having won in Monaco in 2010 will see him keep his head and take the win..

  19. possibly GRO will out perform RAI. dont think MAS is ant threat to ALO. possible to see MSH on the podium finally

  20. A protest brewing against Red Bull’s floor, according to PA’s Ian Parkes on Twitter.

    What’s the problem? Is this a new floor? Have the other teams just been waiting for a Red Bull to beat them, so they can get it thrown out?

    So this is F1’s latest way of making itself look silly, after sending Hamilton to the back in Spain, and going to Bahrain and pretending nothing was wrong.

  21. Well summed up Keith, particularly about Webber at the start. I can’t see Webber winning this to be honest, I can see Hamilton bagging it.

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